ARTIST & SONG

RANK
on 11

RATING

COMMENTS

01-Lee Alexander
Someday

1

8.5

 Everything comes together really well in this song! Good performing, good structure, good interest maintained throughout. The melody sounds just like another song that I know, but I'm sure that's just a co-incidence and you didn't steal it! Anyhoo it's very engaging and catchy.

02-Melina
Oedipus Rex

8

6.25

 This song is a good example of why I think we need to choose a specific category of song for each of our IFC's! It's very hard to compare this one in the same field against the other stuff I've heard here, because it's such a vastly different concept and isn't really what I would call a 'song'. Not in any conventional sense anyway. But still, auite an impressive project and I'm sure it must've done well for the purpose it was conceived. Vocals are quite stunning, and the multilayering texture is delightful, drums/percussion are a rather naff [probably more a factor of the quality of the fake instruments used]. Structure-wise I really wanted it to hit certain chords/highs to suit the theme but it didn't; kept veering off instead into less dramatic territory, so I was left a little unsatisfied as a result.

03-Joe Huettner
One More Mile

4

7.25

 Like the driving backing, the overall feel. Great instrumental section, with solo et al! Structurally, the verse sounds too much like the chorus, it's all at more or less the same level, so the result is the song doesn't reach anywhere particular - so it goes around in a bit of a predictable circle instead. Lyrics are pretty good on the whole, but I'm not sure how one rests one's weary head inside somebody [but I probably think too literally!]

04-Mike Tricker
Lifetime of Love

11

5.5

 Gorgeous piano, vocals quite nice on the whole (but just ever so slightly sickly in parts, especially the strained and out-of-tune bits towards the end). The mistake in pitch at around 2:18 or so *really* jars on the ears! This might sound weird, but I think I would've liked the whole thing better if you ditched the vocal part completely and left it as an instrumental. Because, the melody doesn't do anything much that the piano isn't already doing, and the lyrics are fairly pedestrian and uninspiring.

05-David Tallent
Don't Run Away

6

6.75

 Have you ever thought about writing children's music? That's honestly not meant to be an insult, but I totally hear this song NOT in a dance club (it just doesn't sound like anything you would hear on the dance charts) but on The Muppet Show or similar. Animal would love to play the drums on this one - he would go off! But as an sdult song, a real song in the big bad world, I can't see it working. It's just too cute and simplistic in its structure/presentation - BUT with all these cool riffs and sounds going on here, I can see little kiddies boogeying down to it at some stage show at the mall during school holidays. I'm going to pretend you actually intend this song as a children's number, and give you a higher score based on that. Ever heard of The Wiggles? They're making millions in the kiddies' market these days (in fact they are in the top ten income earners in all of Australia, right up there with Kylie Minogue and Nicole Kidman) ever since they gave up
trying be a real rock band (The Cockroaches) and donned brightly coloured skivvies instead and started singing about spaghetti. Seriously, enter this one in the JLSC Children's category.

06-Alex Calvo
Anaconda

10

5.75

 Great set-up, takes me somewhere really nice but I haven't the words to express it. But when does it get into the big Pink Flloyd-esque rock number with the power drums and crowds cheering? That's what I was waiting for. It's a great intro to something potentially huge, but then it just stops. I wasn't bored or anything, you could let it go on this long but it needs to turn into the main event at some point. I feel somewhat cheated out of a song as a result. :-) If the category was 'Best Song Intro', this'd win for sure!

07-Nancy G. Brundrett
Lost and Found

5

7

 Like the lyrics in this one a lot; it's got a good sentiment and flow to it. Obviously you've 'connected' and are writing about something real; which is something I find hard to do a lot of the time. Backing is gorgeous (as always!) - understated yet intricate, pretty yet not sappy. Melodically I do find this song a little bit directionless & meandering; I feel like it needs to go somewhere more definite- a few highs and lows perhaps, or something a bit more catchy/memorable for the listener to latch onto. I'm also not too sure about the chorusing on the main vocal. But overall a very nice effort; you have a sound a feel that's all your own. (which is a good thing, I mean!)

08-Don Lyman
I Am Here

3

7.5

 This is good stuff; solid and catchy. Like the lyrics and your voice (and I don't care whether you are dying your hair or throwing dice!) I was expecting more of a chorus though; feels like it needs to high more of a dramatic high before getting into the instrumental section (which was excellent!). I think the problem is there's no great distinction between what might be a verse and what might be a chorus. But overall the effect is really toe-tapping and pleasing. [still a few corruption issues in your soundfile I think]

09-Robert Field
What She Said

9

6.0

 Vocals quite boomy and hard to make out. Partly over-effects and partly an issue with diction when you sing [I know 'cos I have issues there too!] Structurally, this song is a bit cyclical; which you can't really get away with when the melody and lyrics aren't doing anything terribly inventive either. Add a bridge section, progress the instrumentation/arrangement to help the song build, or add some colour and variation in some other way. The basic are quite good though, just needs something more to hold my interest.

10-Jeremy Haynes
Piety and Greed

7

6.5

 I had to look piety up in the dictionary. [Which perhaps says more about me than it does about you!] Is all that radio station snippets business meant to be in there? Why? The change in feel/rhythm of the instrumental sections sounds incongruous against the feel of the rest of the song, then sounds even more disjointed when bolted onto the piano section at the end (which is actually really beautiful in itself). I think overall a few too many disparate feels/ideas which end up confusing poor old me. Keep the piano theme, use it more often, and ditch some of the other radical style changes. I'm a little confused where the peak/high is meant to be in this song, 'cos there's quite a few of those too (again, different each time). Really nice voice for this sort of material!

11-Joro
Chasing Sunsets

2

8.25

 Beautiful intro which reeled me right in and start listening keenly to the lyrics/singing. Nice harmonies, but perhaps a little too loud in the mix. Can't think of too much else to criticise! Good distinction between verses and choruses, melody is interesting and just unique enough but yet still has that nice familiar feeling instantly. Great performance!

12-Hazelglow
Happy Just Being Here

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